BT is recognised as a leading provider for Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN) services and MPLS-based WAN services for the German market by the Experton Group. The analysts rank BT as a “Leader Germany” in their most recent “WAN Services & SDN Vendor Benchmark 2016” report.

BT gains the top position in the Leader quadrant for “Software-Defined WAN services” which only includes companies “with a highly appealing product and service portfolio as well as a strong market and competitive position.” According to the analysts, the company’s offering, available since December 2015, encompasses “all the SD-WAN capabilities necessary to guarantee secure data traffic for video, audio and data.” BT offers professional management and its services are generating great interest among its customers. The availability of secure and reliable connections to some of the leading providers of cloud services directly from BT’s network was highlighted as a remarkable feature.

BT is also awarded a Leader position in the “MPLS-based WAN services” category. According to the analysts, MPLS networks remain the most popular WAN technology for companies with distributed locations thanks to its proven security and reliability. Experton emphasises that BT operates one of the largest global MPLS networks and is convincing “with a comprehensive portfolio including security as well as highly professional service management.”

“BT has been firmly established for years in the German VPN services market and has significantly influenced the portfolio development for MPLS services,” said Dr. Henning Dransfeld, Manager Advisor at the Experton Group. “Leveraging on the strengths of its global, high-performance MPLS infrastructure, BT is focussing primarily on major customers with international requirements.”

“We’re delighted that both our Software-Defined WAN services and MPLS-based WAN services receive such high marks,” stated Christian Dietl, BT’s Head of Marketing & Products in Germany. “We are especially proud of the results in the Software-Defined WAN category, which is currently seeing a surge of interest in the market. Our new BT Connect Intelligence IWAN Service addresses this need and offers our customers the opportunity to optimise their costs for routing network traffic as well as improve their application performance.”

Experton Group examined the performance of 46 WAN and SDN providers offering in Germany. The research evaluates the service appeal (“portfolio attractiveness”) as well as the provider’s strength in the market (“competitive strength”).

Notes for Editors.

Software Defined Networking (SDN) means the physical separation of the network control layer from the transport layer, so that the network components can be centrally controlled by software. This enables the network operator, or the customer themselves, to quickly control and adapt the network.

With Software-Defined WAN (SD-WAN), SDN is used to automatically determine the most efficient way to route traffic through a company’s network (Enterprise WAN). This enables organisations to reduce costs by securely interconnecting remote sites over hybrid network options, such as MPLS VPNs, private and public internet, and mobile. This is particularly useful when integrating internet-based services, mobile devices and distributed locations. The performance of applications is also easier to monitor and optimise.